How 'Clog the Toilet' Campaign Targets H1B Visa Holders and Indians?

What is Clog the Toilet Campaign?

‘Clog the Toilet,’ also known as ‘Operation Clog the Toilet,’ is an online racist campaign started by an anonymous group on 4chan. This campaign urged trolls and their viewers to target the current Indian H1B visa holders. The idea was to intentionally overload airline reservation or booking systems by not completing the airline ticket checkouts. As an airline ticket checkout temporarily reserves seats, any person trying to book the same seat will not be shown the same seat. When the payment holding option expired on the airline’s website, they would repeat the process. This resulted in clogging the available seats, increasing the prices and demand for flights, which eventually resulted in limited flight options for real travellers. This way, the trollers booked all the major flights that were flying Indians to the USA. The Clog the Toilet campaign started as a mischievous prank but caused real trouble to Indians planning to fly back to India after hearing the H1B visa hike announcement. Later, this campaign transformed into hate speeches and racial comments being posted on the channel. Derogatory terms were being used for Indians on these platforms.

How Did the ‘Clog the Toilet’ Campaign Start?

On September 19, 2025, the Trump administration announced the new H1B visa fee of USD100,000. The new fee of USD100,000 in rupees is around ₹88 Lakhs. Due to this sudden introduction of an increased fee, many Indian H1B visa holders who were currently in India or other countries started panicking and started to book flights back to the USA. Several tech companies in USA like Microsoft and Meta, urged their employees to return to the USA quickly. During this moment, some trolls took advantage of the situation and started an online campaign called ‘Clog the Toilet’. This campaign aimed to disrupt the airline booking systems for Indians coming back to USA. On 4chan a statement was released which stated that ‘Indians are just waking up after the H1B news. Want to keep them in India? Clog the flight reservation system.’ This campaign not only affected the travel and finances of Indians flying to USA in a panicked situation but also indicates the racism and harassment caused by anonymous groups online. F1 Student Visa holders or Optional Practical Training (OPT) students usually applied to switch to H1B while staying in the US. This allows them to continue working in the US without travelling abroad for visa stamping.

What was the Impact of the ‘Clog the Toilet’ Campaign on Indian H1B Visa Holders?

There was a clear impact created by the ‘Clog the Toilet’ campaign, as many Indians faced issues while booking flights to the USA. One such case was reported wherein Amrutha Tamanam, a software engineer working in Austin, USA was trying to book a flight back to USA. She went to India on a vacation and as soon as she heard about the H1B visa fee hike, she planned to return to USA. She reported that she faced a lot of trouble while booking the flight. The airline’s website kept crashing and the payment page’s timer went off quickly. After trying multiple times, she booked a flight to Dallas through Qatar Airways. However, she managed to book a one-way ticket for around $2,000. This fee is highly expensive and is double the cost of an average one-way ticket to Dallas.

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Impact of ‘Clog the Toilet’ Campaign on Indian Students

The ‘Clog the Toilet’ campaign not only affected the Indian H1B visa holders but also the Indian students who went back home for a break. Indian students on an F1 visa studying in the USA also panicked when the new H1B visa fee was introduced. As the racist trolls blocked the available seats, many Indian students who were hurrying back to the USA must have experienced limited seat availability and high prices.

What Next for International Skilled Workers in USA?

After the announcement of H1B visa fee hike, there has been uncertainty about what international skilled workers will do. Although the new USD 100,000 H1B fee is to be paid by the US companies hiring international talent, the high amount will affect the hiring system. Moreover, Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada, announced that they will introduce a new policy for international skilled workers, as many will be affected by the H1B visa fee hike. In addition, Build Canada, a Canadian organisation, suggested that Canada must provide a work permit for the potential or current H1B visa holders. The eligibility will be an earning of a minimum USD 140,000 (CAD 200,000) salary and a three-year employment commitment. However, under this work permit, H1B holders can live in USA while having their US employment. This is a strategic move by Canada to be at an advantage from the new H1B visa rule. Similarly, other countries like Germany, China and UK have also initiated techniques to attract international skilled workers.

Conclusion

Even though the Donald Trump administration clarified that the H1B visa fee applies to new applicants and the current H1B visa holders are not affected by this new announcement, Indian H1B visa holders panicked before this clarification. Moreover, companies like Meta and Microsoft instructed their current Indian H1B visa holders to return to USA as soon as possible, which added to the panic. ‘Clog the Toilet’ campaign is a clear example that even today, people take advantage during sensitive situations. All those who blocked the seats for Indian flyers posted racist comments. This unfortunate cyberbullying event should be looked into and people must start behaving sensitively towards such situations.

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